Following a period of isolation at the start of the Lockdown, Adam Caruso met host Matthew Blunderfield online to discuss teaching at ETH Zurich, the work of Pierre Huyghe, and the series of monographs on lesser-known Modernist architects he co-edits with with his partner, Helen Thomas.
"[When we started our practice] we were really interested in the syntax of architecture - how you make a brick wall, how you make an opening - and we believed that the syntax of architecture held within it the culture of architecture. And the reason we concentrated on that rather than the semiotics of architecture is that we didn’t believe so much in a shared language [for architecture to speak symbolically]. We live in a society that’s diverse and globalised, and I’m trying to find positive ways of engaging with those things”
Image: Pierre Huyghe After ALife Ahead Skulptur Projekte Münster, 2017
© flickr / stephane333
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Peter St John will give a lecture entitled, Transformation and Resources, at the University of Nottingham's Department of Architecture and Built Environment, on the 21st of February. The talk will explore the recent work of the office that focuses on the transformation of existing buildings.
Peter St John talks galleries, ice hockey and awards with Hugh Pearman, editor of the RIBA Journal
On Saturday 26th of September there will be a public viewing of the newly completed Im Gut residential estate on Gutstrasse in Zurich. Developed in collaboration with Lütjens Padmanabhan Architects, the project for the housing cooperative im Gut renews the existing housing stock with around one hundred apartments, a kindergarten, and cooperative offices.
Exhibition
Haussmann Studiolo
Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur
Chur, Switzerland
14 November 2026 – 14 March 2027
The Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur presents Haussmann Studiolo, an exhibition dedicated to the pioneering Swiss architects and designers Trix and Robert Haussmann. Returning to Chur, where Trix Haussmann was born in 1933 and spent her formative years, the exhibition celebrates the couple's influential contribution to 20th-century Swiss design, architecture, and interior design. The exhibition is curated by Adam Caruso and Stephan Kunz and designed by Caruso St John Architects.
Exhibition
Out of Service?
Swiss Sacred Architecture in Transition
ZAZ BELLERIVE, Zurich
18 September 2026 – 7 February 2027
The exhibition Out of Service? – Swiss Sacred Architecture in Transition opens Friday 18th of September at ZAZ BELLERIVE, the centre for Architecture in Zurich. Through an exhibition of Swiss projects, this initiative highlights how sacred buildings that were once central to community life can be transformed to preserve their architectural and cultural value for future generations. Caruso St John is showcasing their work for the St Gallen Cathedral.
Newport Street Gallery won the Stirling Prize in 2016. To mark thirty years of the award, RIBA is hosting a celebration ceremony at Old Billingsgate, where the 2026 winner will also be announced. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite Stirling Prize-winning project of the past three decades via the RIBA website.
Royale Belge, a collaboration by Caruso St John Architects with Bovenbouw Architectuur and DDS+, has been shortlisted for the RIBA 2026 International Prize. Four projects were shortlisted from the 34 schemes given RIBA International Awards for Excellence in June.
The jury will visit the projects next week and the winner will be announced at this year's Stirling Prize ceremony on 15 October 2026.
Newport Street Gallery has been shortlisted for the Brick Legacy Award at the Brick Awards 2026. The new category celebrates projects of enduring architectural quality that have stood the test of time.
Veemgebouw has won Gold in the Housing and Residential category of this year's Erich Mendelsohn Award, which recognizes architecture built in brick. The project was chosen for its sensitive transformation and adaptive reuse of a former Philips industrial warehouse. The intervention integrates a new residential volume on top of the original brick structure, establishing a clear dialogue between the historical facade and contemporary construction.
On Thursday, 10 September, Hospitalfield will host an afternoon in conversation at Custom Lane in Edinburgh. Titled The Site Conscious Practice of Artists; the Problem of the Rural Landscape is its Beauty, the event explores how cultural organizations can create hospitable, porous environments that nurture slow artistic practice while engaging broad public audiences.
The RIBA International Awards have been announced, and our project Royal Belge is a winner!
The awards aim to highlight design that tackles global challenges, and Royal Belge is praised for its adaptive reuse strategies, extending the life of a modernist icon.
The Ice Hockey World Championship concluded at Swiss Life Arena – designed by Caruso St John – with the final between Switzerland and Finland. For the first time, a World Championship was held in "our" arena. Seeing it go off without a hitch – from the opening game to the final – has been a privilege to witness. Congratulations to all who made it happen, and to Finland on a deserved victory.